In order to spark more interest in the game, I wrote a multiplayer guide and put it in Penny Arcade, where the game was gaining a bad reputation because of the RTS elements. I'm proud to say I got a lot of people to buy the game, and I'm do the best I can to show support to Double Fine.

For years I waited for a game like Battlezone 1 and 2, and others for a game like Sacrifice. Who would of thought it would be Double Fine to pull it off? On a console no less!

Over time, I met top players who helped write the guide. Kor of Memory in particular deserves a ton of credit for creating the HP data, and being the genuine best player of this game.

The community interest over there is slipping away (not so much that but that nobody but a close circle is keeping the thread active), so I'm putting the guide in other places as well. Enjoy!

Commanding, dare I say Controlling, YOUR ARMY

Holding the right shoulder button brings up a wheel with the different units you can build, straight out of Halo Wars. Once you have units, the D Pad will command them.

Attack - Everything in that general direction must die!
Sets an orange beacon to which allies will approach and attack enemies.

Follow - Be with me. <3
Puts a pink beacon on you causing unis who heard the command to move to your location no matter how far you are.

Stop/Defend - Rigor Mortis. Pretend you have it.
Sets a blue beacon on your position. Units will stop attacking or moving, and move to that position and attack anyone nearby.

Go to Beacon - Your motion pleases me <3
The most important command, causes units to move to the beacon you set.

The Beacon appears with the left shoulder button, and you will use it more than any other command. Hold it down and a pillar of light will appear, that you can move anywhere. From one side of the map to the other. In key structures, it will stretch out for ease of use.

If you have units that are far away, beams of light from the sky will shine on them. The color tells you what they are doing, and the colors correspond to the commands listed above.

You will be using individual commands minimally in this game.

1. You go to a unit and hold Y (If you want them to go to a beacon, make sure its set already.)
2. Your avatar will say something like "Wait!" or "Listen!" All units in the general area will stop moving.
3. The unit you are closest to will glow.
4. Issue the command. You wont hear anything from the avatar.
5. Release Y to execute. You avatar will say something like "Those are your orders!"

COMMON GUITAR SOLOS

Some solos are not just in the single player. They are key mechanics for Stage Battles, and are common to each faction. Here they areÖ

Fan Tribute - Do you see how they love me so?
When thereís a rock stage in the area, spirits of the earth rise up in search of some ****iní metal. The key to gathering resources, cast this to claim the geyser and send the spirits to your stage so they can enjoy your music and power your army. You'll see them fly to your stage and begin moshing.

*If there is just two avatars by a geyser, whoever completes Fan Tribute first claims it.
*If your opponent has units near the geyser but you don't, you will see the geyser as red and cannot cast Fan Tribute, but they can.
*If you both have units near it, you both will see it as red, and whoever wipes out the opponents units first will see it change to green.
*When a geyser is green, no enemy units are around and you can claim it.
*Avatars cannot contest the geyser. Only the presence of your units can.

Rally Army - Everybody, and I mean EVERYBODY, come here right now!
If you need a moment of massive offense/defense, cast this and all units will head straight to your spot. Different from the Summon Flag.

Summon Flag - Hey, check out my flag!
This simple 3 note song sets a flag in the ground. When a unit spawns, it will automatically go there. You can pick it up with the Double Team button and set it somewhere else (I recommend this), or just keep it on you so that allies just come to you. (I do not recommend this. Your character is too fast and important for this. It's good for beginners though.)

(Car) Ė The name varies between factions, but each character has their own car that only they can use. Cast it to throw off your opponents early ground game, as you can run over infantry with it. If itís destroyed, you can cast it again to your heartís delight. Donít neglect it in your early game.

YOUR STAGE - How to check health, and use it's features.

Your stage is your base. It consumes fandom to create units, and can be upgraded. It plays music based on the Faction you are playing. Your mission is to destroy your opponent's base while defending yours.

In the event you are on the defensive, your Stage has Double Teams of it's own. Walk to the center of the stage Double Team with the microphone. You can blare the speakers on each side to blast melee opponents away with the trigger buttons. You can slow enemies down with fog, or if you have too much time on your hands, change the song playing.

When I say this game has no HUD I mean it. Your stage's health is represented by a group of orange spotlights, each one representing 10% of it's health. When taking damage, they will fall off. You can heal your stage by 10% while at the microphone. But it costs 200 fans.

If you fly high to the top of the stage, you can Double-Team with one of two spotlights to fire powerful blasts of lasers on enemies below you. Hold the attack button to make it even more powerful.

Face Melter
Bet you wish you wore a bib, cause' now you got face all over your shirt!
Eddie's nuke solo, which causes damage over a small radios. Infantry who die get their faces melted off. Use it often!

Call of the Wild
Call of the Wiiiiiilllllld was my favorite Booooooook!
This spell summons animals found throughout the world, but what animals are dependent on your Tech level. Tier 2 summons four Raptor Elks. Tier 3 summons two Tollusks. Final Tier summons a Hextadon. Beware. The spell always has a 25% chance of summoning Ground Urchins instead.

Battle Cry
If you're heart's not palpitating now, call your doctor, cause you are DEAD!
In the story, it compels the Headbangers to join. But really, itís a buff that strengthens allies around you.

Rock Block
Sorry if I messed up your batting order!
Stops troop development of the enemy stage for 20 seconds. Use it when you want some offensive momentum. WARNING - DOES NOT WORK ON TAINTED COIL HIERARCHY UNITS!

Light of Dawn
Oh, mighty sun, please burn away the creatures of the night from this land while I enjoy coffee and bacon!
This spell makes a bright sunrise stopping all enemy buffs and debuffs. The bane of Drowning Doomís existence. This spell takes long to cast.

Bring it on Home
Oh, no! The Metal Gods are still using Hydrogen!
His most powerful spell, it summons a goddamn Hydrogen-Filled Zeppelin of Lead to crash into the area directly above Eddie, causing massive damage and leaving the area on fire. Aim it carefully, itís 10 notes, powerful, and has a cool down time of five minutes. Donít waste it.

Ironheade Lvl 1 Units.

Headbanger
Lars: But I mean...what you do with a bunch of kids who don't know how to do anything but bang their heads all day?
Eddie : *Shedding manly tears* You start a revolution, Lars.
Eddie's basic melee infantry. After years of devolution, these former slaves knew nothing in life but crushing rocks with their heads. But Eddie's music compelled them to bang their heads for better reasons.

Double Team: The headbangers that are in the area will circle Eddie and bang their heads in a formation that causes damage to enemies who get too close, or if they survive, go flying.

Razor Girls
(It's like they're born warriors!) I know! I think I'm gonna cry!
Eddie's basic long-range infantry. Rescued by Ophelia, these former slaves sport their favorite weapon: a cannon made from the guts of a Razorfire Boar, a living motorcycle.

Double Team: Eddie sits one girl on his shoulder and changes her shot into a powerful cannon. It feels like a shotgun, but it has incredible range. Super effective.

Thunderhog
Marchin' off to war!
Eddie's healer vehicle. Lemmy Killmister of Motorhead fame leaves his lair and puts his healing abilities to use. He heals your units passively, and is not meant for fighting.

Double Team: Eddie will hitch a ride, then you can control and fire short range bursts of bass that paralyze infantry or vehicles over a small radius. Also, allies around Lemmy will heal even faster.

Ironheade Lvl 2.

Fire Barons
Is this the outfit that murdered the General? Alright then...BURN THE OTHER GUYS!
A light anti-infantry vehicle unit. A mysterious clan of pyros led by Rob Halford who ride on motorcycles and toss molotovs at enemies for a burning effect, devastating to infantry.

Double Team: Eddie rides on the motorcycle , then you hold A to start a trail of fire behind you. Complete a loop to make a powerful barrier of fire that shrinks, causing massive damage to enemies who walk through it.

Headsplitter
A Heavy Ranged Vehicle. Reversed engineered from the enemies crossbow towers, it is now attached to a slow vehicle.

Double Team: Gives you the ability to steer and shoot, and itís crossbow fires more rapidly and becomes explosive. Good for attacking vehicles, or even structures.

Lvl 3 UnitsMetal Beast
Are you here for the Mating Challenge? <3
An anti-infantry who is also infantry. Rima (Lita Ford) rides a Metal Beast, which the power to breathe fire over a wide arc. It also moves very fast.

Double Team: Gives you the controls over movement and fire. Use it to slaughter infantry and take down large infantry while using speed to evade attacks the AI would normally ignore. BUT BEWARE, ITS USELESS ON VEHICLES!

Bouncer
I'm helping!
Your Anti-Vehicle Infantry. The former whip cracking officers of Lionwhyteís army, now liberated. They are heavy infantry that are very effective against vehicles.

Double Team: Eddie lifts the Bouncer on his shoulders, and then throws him for a big shockwave that damages enemies over a big radius.

Roadies
Ooh! Shreddie Eddie!
A Steath, anti-structure infantry. In this metal world, these roadies are not just unnoticeable, they become invisible. They do severe damage to buildings. One squad can level a booth in seconds. Two squads can level the stage in seconds! But if they get spotted up close by the enemy or leader, they can get killed quick.

Double Team: Eddie stands on the speaker and becomes invisible too, giving you control over movement and attacks. The speaker blast becomes more powerful, and can send an avatar flying, stopping them from protecting the geyser.

Final Unit

Rockcrusher
Who else feels like taking on the world?!
Reverse engineered from a stone roller, it is the final unit. A portable stage that can crush enemies and buffs allies around it by carrying your stage's music. It passively slings mortars at enemies, and units and structures of every type will be severely damaged by it's rolling grinders in the front.

Double Team: Eddie stands in the center of the portable stage, and can steer the vehicle over enemies and structures. You also get the most powerful Double Team attack, called the Bladehenge Assault, which traps and crushes enemies over a big circle you aim and fire. It's cooldown is very long, so keep it surrounded by now-buffed allies and hop out every now and then to attack as well.

Drowning Doom- Death/Black Metal

Oozing depression, dark colors and sickliness, it sucks the life out of everything around it. The spiritual opposite of Ironheade. Alone, some units are weak, and DD is the only faction that does not have buffs. But it does has the most debuffs, courtesy of depressing goth and epic black metal, storm clouds, black tears and ash. It makes DD more about weakening the opponent then building up the allies.

Drowning Doom Car Ė The Hearse
Hi Eddie! I finally got a car. It has a seat in the back just for you!

Drowning Doom Unit Data

Drowning Doom Solos

Silence
Hush...
Wraps the enemy leaderís head in mummy bandages, blocking all commands and guitar use. Only works at close range, so anticipate when they are coming to you.

Black Tear Infusion
He loves me, he loves me not.
Spreads Black Tear flower petals from the ground, healing allies around the casting area for a short time. Kinda sucks, but use it often.

Shadow Blast
AHAHAHA!
The DD nuke solo, it causes damage to enemies close by. They also get blown away a good distance.

Encompassing Gloom
You're stage seems to be suffering from a case of On-Set Depression!
Makes the sky go dark, stopping enemy troop production. It works no matter what. Even on Tainted Coil's building units. Devastating to any faction!

Baleful Misdirection
Creates a duplicate of any unit that you can currently produce. It will appear blue and transparent. But to AI, and even the enemy player, it will look real, and take hits like a real unit. It takes up unit load, but follows your orders. Things that it attacks will send a warning to the enemy just like a real unit would, so careful choice of the unit you copy will make it more believable, diverting enemy attention. When it dies, it vanishes in a blue flame, giving away that it's a fake.

Veil of Deciet
Get under my skirt!
Spreads a fog that makes your units invisible until they attack. Use it to slip behind enemy detection, or behind a Rockcrusher...
As long as your units don't attack, they remain in visible to enemies and the avatar. Great for attacking a stage or avoiding danger.

Weeping Heavens
I have enough tears for a hundred eyes!
The final spell, it launches artillery sized eyeballs from your stage, raining Black Tears to destroy enemies. Once cast, a glowing eye will appear above your head. This is where the artillery will fall all around you. BEWARE. The attack launches from your stage to just past your position. Keep note of where your stage is, because in weird shaped maps like Bleeding Coast, the attack comes sideways.

Drowning Doom Units

Lvl 1 Units

Grave Digger
That song makes me want to kill myself, but in a good way!
DD basic infantry. Is it a zombie? No, wait! Itís just some emo ****er. Or perhaps both? Weak, but they come in a group of six, the largest of all infantry. Why? Big groups help them express their individuality -_-

Double Team: Buries you underground, allowing you to move around until you gush back up, creating an explosion that blows away enemies. It's great for hiding from damage, and good at removing leeches from geysers. This is very powerful.

The Bride
Leave ME at the altar, will you?!
A debuff infantry. A glowing blue spirit of a woman in a bridal dress who never bagged a man in life, everywhere they go, storm clouds hover above that debuff enemies and slow them down, infantry or vehicle. Each time they sustain damage, they automatically shoot lightning in retaliation. You can only make three, because when all three are together, they can slow down the enemy by 75%. Always have three, and have them close, and your enemy will hardly function around them.

Double Team: You'll dance with her, and shoot bolts of lightning. 11 shots can remove a leech. Great for harassing infantry.

Frightwig
Let me touch that beautiful hair!
A long-range infantry. A head of a woman who washed her hair in the Black Tears, giving it supernatural beauty. In death, their heads came back to life on their own, using their hair as new legs and arms. Because they are alone, they hit harder, faster, and have more health than any other long range infantry. But that makes them big targets for the enemy avatar too.

Double Team: You can lift and throw the Frightwig at an enemy unit, forcing it to attack allies (think Headcrab). But if the unit gets hit too much, the Frightwig will die instead. Otherwise both the unit and Frightwig will die. It can steal any unit except Tainted Coil's three building units. Steal Rockcrushers. Often.

Lvl 2 Units

Ratgut
Lead my rats to victory!
Anti-infantry, Infantry unit. This bloated piece of Eurotrash's belly is bloated from housing dozens of plague-ridden rats. He regularly vomits them out, then they seek out and munch on infantry.

Double Team: He devours you, and then vomits you out. You turn into the cluster of rats, giving you control over the enemies you devour. This means you can hide the Ratgut from a distance while you attack infantry. Especially if you cast Veil of Deciet on the Ratgut.

Organist
Is this song making you feel a little...impotent?
Debuff Vehicle Ė A church organ on wheels, itís depressing music debuffs everyone around it. (indicated by units glowing blue.) They are cheap to build, and if you build multiple, their debuff stacks.

Double Team: You can drive, and launch the Organist's controller, who can posses any unit other than TC's three hierarchy units. Unlike Frightwigs, you get direct control over the enemy unit. If you don't want the responcebility, drive the controlled unit off a cliff!

Lightning Rod
Lets go see the Governor!
Heavy Vehicle unit. A hot rod, controlled and powered by Sparky, a dude in an electric chair. It fires bolts of lightning at enemies. But without Double Team, it doesn't shoot as fast and strong as it could during Double Team.

Double Team: Puts you in the drivers seat, and gives you aim of itís lightning bolt. When fully charged, the bolt can zap multiple enemies at once, and severely damage the unit you shot it at.

Lvl 3 Units

Brood
Nobody here but us babies!
Tiny vehicle, also anti- vehicle. A tiny evil baby carriage. The tiniest vehicle in the game, it looks like infantry, but it is in fact a vehicle, making it fire resistant. It launches evil dolls that can shred apart vehicles. They are cheap and quick to make, making them important for tearing apart enemy vehicles in groups.

Double Team: Drives the Brood, and prepares a suicide attack. When you attack, it is launched forward and will self-destruct upon impact, launching multiple evil dolls everywhere that will automatically latch on to enemies.

Reaper
Hey! Can you hear me though those headphones?
Fast infantry. Death himself, sporting a ghostly horse, scythe, and some kickass headphones. A fast and powerful unit, he rides around slashing enemies for huge damage and speed. But with low health and high price of 200, they're not too great.

Double Team: You ride the horse. Your presence causes enemy infantry to run away in fear. You can also slash enemies, but it's hard to aim.

Dirigible
Riiiiiide wiiiiith meeeeee...
Final Debuff Vehicle. A mysterious hot air balloon that spreads crematory ashes that reduce enemy defense. It works on units and structres. EVEN THE STAGE. You won't see it working but your enemy can (the screen becomes dark in it's proximity.) Practically mandatory for attacking the stage. One Dirigble, while you Double Team with a Lightning Rod, can kill the stage in a few seconds of fully changed shots. It has a very high amount of health, so Double Teaming is a great way to hide from damage.

Double Team: You take control of it as it soars high above the ground. You can then chuck urns directly underneath you. These funeral urns spread ashes that damage enemies and send them flying, and heal allies at the same time.

Final Unit

Treeback
Come out! Don't be shy.
A huge terrifying tree monster with a massive murder of crows living in itís canopy, swooping down andÖmurdering enemies. The crows automatically munch on enemies. During Double Team, you sit in the tree while the creature carrying it rises and can now have a devastating stomping attack while the crows continue to munch on enemies. Wait until you have the Treeback where you want it to be, because it moves faster when not in Double Team. Then hop in and squish enemies, the stage, or reckless avatars who tend not to take them seriously.

Tainted Coil - Industrial Metal

The Industrial Metal faction, led by the villain, Emperor Doviculus (Tim Curry). The units are all demonic looking, with hints of S&M that hold their squishy, skinless bodies together. This is the only faction in which units can spawn other units on the field, away from your stage. That makes these guys are the Zerg. The best opening act, they can overwhelm you by spawning enemies anywhere they want. Hands down, Doviculus has some of the worst Solos, and the least amount of Double Teams. But due to their focus on numbers, they can overwhelm other factions in a short amount of time. Also, the hierarchy allows powerful upgrades to all Lvl 1 and Lvl 2 Units.

Tainted Coil CarĖ The Chariot Ė A War Chariot fit for an antagonist.

Tainted Coil Data

Tainted Coil Solos

Chains of Hell
Relax! It is pointless to resist.
Chains shoot from the ground and latch on to the enemy avatar, stopping all movement.

Martyrdom
Feeeed from my veins, children!
The basic TC Buff, it severely damages yourself to inspire your allies to fight harder AND MOVE FASTER. It's four notes, and each note causes 2.5 damage to yourself. This is a total of 10 dmg, making it very risking to perform when your opponent is watching. It's also possible to die before you complete it!

Summon Agony Boil
Mmmhmhmhm. A promising pustule.
Creates a squishy, evil proximity mine that grows over time. Use it on things you wish to defend, on spots you expect the AI
to accidentally step on.

Summon Tick Choppers
DEMONS! RIDE!
A freebie unit, like Call of the Wild, this summons four Tick Choppers you faced in the Campaign. They will appear at your stage immediately when you summon it.Skies Afire
THE BATTLE IS OURS! LET US SHED BLOOD UNDER THIS BEAUTIFUL SKY!
The skies burn with evil, and the closer your units are to your stage, the more powerful they become. It's only useful for defense. Everything looks black and white.

Launch of Death
SEND ME A NIGHTMARE!
If you created the final unit (Bleeding Death), move to an area and cast this to launch it to your position and set it loose. Anything too close to the place it lands will instantly die.

Lvl 1 Units

Battle Nun
You may call me Mother Ultra Superior, children!
The Lvl 1 Production unit. These tall, svelte demonic nuns come directly from the stage and don't do too much on their own.

Double Team - Builds the other Lvl 1 Units.

Soul Kisser
Would you like to fly?
A melee infantry. These ladies are covered in kinky leather and have hair made of meshing shears, which they use to attack.

Double Team: You pick one up and can throw it in a small but powerful suicide blast. Throwing two can remove a Leech. Throwing one can severely damage an avatar.

Punishing Party
QUIET, SLAVE!
A Ranged infantry. This unit is the most complex of all the ranged infantry. It consists of a group of dominatrices and one massive gimp, called The Pinboy. His body is covered in arrows piercing his back, which the girls yank out and throw. The Pinboy himself can melee attack. If all the girls die he commits suicide regardless if you are Double Teaming or not. The suicide blast does small damage to enemies.

Double Team: Doviculus jumps atop The Pinboy and is able to manually throw spears at a target much more rapidly than the Dominatrices. This Double Team is very potent, and enemy avatars will have great trouble trying to deal with it. The girls themselves do not have a double team.

Lvl 2 Units

Warfather
You see? MINE are bigger!
Your Lvl 2 Production unit. These dark priests fight from long range by firing magic blasts from their evil book.

Skull Raker
This is the greatest moment of my life!
A Heavy Infantry. A huge monster whose head is actually a mace on a chain that it swings at enemies. It has the mind of an infant, but is incredibly powerful, and the key to defeating Baron Rushes.

Double Team, you ride it's empty neck, and can then aim and swat the mace at enemies. Also, if you move long distances, it will begin to dash for extra speed.

Screamwagon
I was told that I was signing up for a Spa Day!
A Support Vehicle. This terrifying car has no attacks. Instead, the poor Screamin' Demon [David Cross] lies strapped in the center, and is tortured various ways. The powerful screams motivate your army with one of different buffs.

Double Team puts you at the wheel. Though it has no attacks, the front has spikes that can impale enemies as you drive, and you can cycle between the three tortures for one of three buffs. Hot oil increases defense (units glow white). Stretching increases attack (glowing red). Fire speeds up production rates for the three building units (glowing orange). Choose carefully. (It's always Oil by default)

Pain Lifter
Your pain is a beautiful gift.
An Artillery Vehicle. Coil flesh-farm specialists take a core of sharp, disease-ridden medical waste and grow a helpless creature around it, informally named the "Agony Ball". When fired, it explodes on enemies.

Double Team: lets you steer, control where attacks go, and you can roll the ball to greater distances for even greater range. Devastating to infantry.

Tick Chopper
Let the ticks fall where they may!
A tertiary vehicle. Only summon-able by guitar solo available at Lvl 2. They are a weak freebie unit that gets summoned at the stage. They fling Metal Ticks at their enemies that suck blood until they burst. They have no Double Team and are not very strong. But they have a slight healing effect around them. Use them to harass unguarded areas or cause confusion.

Lvl 3 Units

Overblesser
May I kneel...at your altar?
The Lvl 3 Production Unit. The Overblesser is the singular leader of the Coil's hierarchy class. He sits atop a huge four-legged alter and fires long range magical blasts like the Warfather.

Double Team: Builds Lvl 3 units. He can also make a Superior Warfather, which will make Superior Lvl 2 Units, and a Divine Battle Nun, which can make the very strongest possible Lvl 1 units.

Heart Cutter
I'm not worried! It's not MY heart.
A Ranged, Vehicular, Anti-Vehicle Unit. This car has a giant heart, that when stabbed, causes spikes to burst out of the ground, impaling infantry or vehicles. Vehicles in particular suffer severe damage.

Double Team: You can aim where the attack appears, which becomes larger and more powerful.

Hate Cage - AHAHA! I LOVE IT up here!
A Massive Ranged Infantry. The Hate Cage is really two distinct creatures - the gigantic (if mindless) legs and the caged demon, who is nothing more than a twisted lump of pure, unfiltered hate. It passively spits liquid hate at enemies, lowering defense. This unit has a disappointingly low amount of health though.

Double Team: Doviculus rides the cage and can stomp on enemies.

Final UnitBleeding Death - My child...come out and play!
Tainted Coil's Final Unit. Prior to battle, the loathsome Bleeding Death is stuffed violently into its ballistic iron maiden. When the maiden is fired by the Coil's Pain Cannon and the Bleeding Death is finally unleashed upon the battlefield, it brings with it complete destruction. Mortally perforated by its prison, the creature slowly bleeds to death, even while bringing destruction to its foes.

Double Team: There is NO Double Team and it WILL NOT obey orders. When you perform Launch of Death, you can decide where it will land and start it's rampage. It's very powerful, but can be killed easily if your opponent is guarding the stage with fog and spotlights. Martyrdom will make it even more powerful.

HP Data - Courtesy of Kor

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kor

Now, remember this is all based on one axe swing equaling 1hp worth of damage. It should be noted that the standard A, A, A, A combo also only does 4hp of damage, there is not a powerful combo in there. It should also be noted that the standard X button attack (lightning) has a tiny DoT(Damage over Time) to it. Enough that the DoT itself probably hits 1hp.